


we are learning to make fire

by mischief7manager



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Consensual Kink, Cunnilingus, Desk Sex, Explicit Consent, F/M, Fluff, Married Sex, newlyweds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-23
Updated: 2017-09-23
Packaged: 2019-01-04 09:08:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12165858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mischief7manager/pseuds/mischief7manager
Summary: “Percy bursts into tipsy giggles, and Vex can’t help but join him. She still savors the word “husband” each time she says it, lets it melt like candy on her tongue, and she revels in the giddy newness of it all. Every secret Vex has ever had in her life has been something dark, something sad, something she kept hidden in the back of her throat til she choked on it. Having this thing between them, this thing that is theirs and only theirs, that fills her overflowing with happiness...There aren’t words for how lucky she is.”The citizens of Whitestone celebrate Winter’s Crest. Their lord and lady have a much more personal celebration of their own.





	we are learning to make fire

**Author's Note:**

> Sin Sin Sin Sin Sin  
> written for several prompts i got on tumblr and in typical fashion, failed to respond to for many months.  
> spoilers through 104.

The Winter’s Crest celebration is in full swing when Lady Vex’ahlia steps to the side of the grand ballroom to catch her breath. She’s been planning this for weeks, she and Percival and Cassandra, and she’s been so focused on getting everything right she’s hardly stopped to take in the final product.

The grand ballroom of Whitestone Castle is radiant. The candelabra in the ceiling, for years hanging dull and dust-covered, shine with light, each candle flickering with enchanted flame, each piece of glass and crystal polished to perfection. In each corner stands an evergreen tree, felled from the nearby Parchwood, their branches glossy with sweet-smelling needles and hung with their own magical lights. No candles, as catching a pine tree on fire would put a slight damper on the evening’s festivities, but Tary has worked with some local craftsmen to make small crystals will glow gently for the next few hours. The two enormous fireplaces are roaring, keeping back the cold of Whitestone winter and keeping the partygoers cozy warm. The room gleams with golden light, a reminder to every person in it that even in the depths of winter, there is still hope for the return of the sun.

“It’s beautiful.”

Most people who came up behind Vex, wrapped their arms around her, and hooked their chin over her shoulder would get an elbow in the kidney and a dagger to the throat. Fortunately for the pair of them, Percival is not most people.

Vex smiles and leans back into his embrace. “It really is, isn’t it? I almost didn’t think it would come together.”

He squeezes her gently. She can smell wine faintly on his breath, but his casual touch speaks more to his intoxication than any odor. Percy is not usually one for public displays of affection. “But it did, thanks to you.”

She smacks his arm lightly where it holds her waist. “And you, don’t forget! And Cassandra, who would certainly smack you for forgetting her contributions.”

He chuckles. “Rightfully so. I’m not forgetting, just…” He ducks his head to press his cheek to her temple. “Prioritizing. You worked very hard on this.”

She hums satisfactorily. “I did. I really did.”

“It looks…” Percy’s not so drunk that he speaks without thinking, and Vex waits, by this point well-accustomed to his need to put his thoughts in order before speaking them aloud. “It reminds me of celebrations from when I was younger. From before.”

She rests a hand over his. “In a good way?”

She feels him smile, and he twines their fingers together over her stomach. “In the best way.”

“Good.” She turns to kiss his cheek, shaved of its usual three-day stubble for the occasion. “I think we deserve a little celebration by this point.”

“You certainly do.” He pulls back and twists a little, keeping her in the embrace but tilting her until he can look into her face. “It is, after all, at least partially a celebration on your behalf.”

Vex flushes, which would be embarrassing if she weren’t more than a little tipsy, and if she were with anyone else but Percy. “I mean, I suppose. I did the whole-” she gesticulates vaguely- “Pelor ascend-y thing like a year ago. This is really a formality at this point, isn’t it?”

“One thing you’ll learn about nobility, dear,” Percy says in his best “imparting deep wisdom” voice, “we are _all about_ formalities. And while, yes, you taking your place as Grand Mistress of the Grey Hunt is absolutely worthy of celebration, I was thinking of a rather more recent title.”

Vex grins. “Why, Percival, what on earth could you mean?”

He grins back. “Why, nothing at all,” he says, all innocence and charm. “And how are you enjoying the evening’s festivities…” He leans in to whisper to her, breath warm against her ear and neck. “...my lady wife?”

Vex shivers. “Why, well enough.” She turns her head to whisper right back. “My lord husband.”

Percy bursts into tipsy giggles, and Vex can’t help but join him. She still savors the word “husband” each time she says it, lets it melt like candy on her tongue, and she revels in the giddy newness of it all. Every secret Vex has ever had in her life has been something dark, something sad, something she kept hidden in the back of her throat til she choked on it. Having this thing between them, this thing that is theirs and only theirs, that fills her overflowing with happiness…

There aren’t words for how lucky she is.

Percy breaks her from her thoughts, lovely as they are, with an even lovelier suggestion. “As wonderful as all of this is,” he says, “do you think anyone would be terribly offended if we stole away for a bit?” He smirks, and she feels her heartbeat pick up. “I have some ideas on how to properly celebrate your titling.”

Vex raises an eyebrow. “We didn’t do enough of that the first time around?” She looks around the ballroom and bites her lip. Cassandra is holding court next to one of the fireplaces, laughing at something Keyleth is saying. Keyleth herself is flushed, only Vax’s arm around her waist holding her steady as she talks. Vax is laughing too, his forehead pressed against Keyleth’s jaw, eyes closed and crinkled with laughter lines. His free hand is buried in the ruff of fur at Trinket’s neck, the bear splayed out happily on the floor beside his uncle, belly full of the choicest meats Whitestone could provide. Across the room, Tary is bringing refills of champagne and ale to Grog and Pike. He hands Pike the delicate flute with a flourish, passing Grog’s mug to him with much less fanfare. They toast, Grog sending ale slopping to the floor with the force of his enthusiasm. Everywhere she looks, people are dancing, laughing, drinking and merrymaking, all without a single bit of help from her.

For the first time in over a year, Vex is beautifully, blissfully unnecessary.

She grins up at Percy. “I think I could be spared.”

They stare at each other for a moment, then, almost perfectly simultaneously, they head for the exit. They’re polite about it, of course, pausing briefly to make excuses when questioned by partygoers, nodding and smiling and oh yes isn’t it lovely what a wonderful celebration. Vex keeps her hand in Percy’s and wonders if anyone notices that he’s practically vibrating with anticipation, or that she’s doing the same. From the look Vax gives her just as they slip through the doors, she thinks he probably does.

Vex waits, heart hammering in her chest, until they’re out of earshot of the ballroom before she crowds Percy against the wall and yanks him down for a kiss. “Want you,” she pants between kisses, fingers tugging at Percy’s collar and the hem of his tucked-in shirt.

Percy grins. “Well, Grand Mistress,” he says, pressing one deep kiss to her lips, “if you want me, you’re going to have to catch me.”

And he ducks around her and races off down the hall.

Vex gapes after her husband for a moment. “Why, you little-” Laughing despite herself, she hoists up her skirts and takes off after him.

It’s not much of a hunt. Percy’s footfalls echo down the stone corridors, and she knows both her husband and the castle well enough to guess at roughly where he’s headed. Running in her fashionable shoes proves slightly more of a setback, but never let it be said Vex let a little difficult terrain stop her. She kicks them off, making a mental note to come back for them so as not to scandalize a servant later on, and dashes down the hall, bare feet making almost no noise against the cold stone floor.

It doesn’t take long to catch up. Percy’s not really trying to hide, and she could track him in a blizzard with her eyes closed. She manages to double around and lie in wait, listening to his hurried footfalls draw closer and closer until she can reach out and grab him by the jacket, yanking him through the door into one of the many empty anterooms, sending them both nearly tumbling ass over teakettle.

As it is, Vex staggers back until she collides with a low shelf or desk of some sort, and Percy just manages to brace himself, arms planted on either side of her hips. “Caught you,” Vex says, breathless and giddy.

Percy grins. “So you did. What do you intend to do with your prey?”

Vex grins back. “What predators always do, dear.” She leans in to whisper in his ear. “Devour it.”

She tugs his earlobe between her teeth, and he’s pressed close enough to her that she feels the shudder that wracks his frame. “Oh, gods, _yes_ ,” he gasps, and then he’s fisting a hand in her intricately braided hair to drag her lips to his in a hot, biting kiss.

Vex groans into his mouth. Her makeup is wrecked within seconds, she’s sure, and her hair can’t be too far behind, but she can’t bring herself to give a damn. Not with Percy’s embrace crushing her to his chest, not with his teeth tugging at her bottom lip, and his hands running up her legs until her skirts are pushed above her hips. He glides over the bare skin between the top of her stockings and the bottom of her underclothes, and Vex shivers at the brush of his fingers.

Not to be outdone, Vex turns her attention to the laces at the front of her bodice. It’s perhaps unfair that she focus on undressing herself rather than her partner, but judging by the look on Percy’s face when she’s able to tug it loose enough to free her breasts, there will be no complaints from that department. “Go on, then,” she says, pinching at one of her nipples just to wind him up.

It works, and Vex’s head drops back on a sigh as Percy ducks to take her nipple in his mouth with a groan. Her hands come up to clutch at his hair, his shoulders, and she feels him chuckle as he laves at her hardening flesh. “Somebody’s eager,” he mutters, sucking hard at her nipple and laughing at the moan she makes.

In response, Vex hops up to sit on the desk and hooks her legs around the backs of his thighs. “ _Some_ -body wants her lord husband to fuck her,” she says, and she feels Percy’s cock twitch inside his trousers, pressed as he is against the cradle of her hips.

Percy groans, rocking against her, chasing relief against the wet heat she’s sure he must feel even through the layers of cloth between them. “As my lady wishes,” he says, sucking what will probably be a very noticable love-bite into the skin of her neck before sliding his hands beneath her skirts and yanking her underclothes off. They catch on her ankle, and Vex kicks them off to land somewhere in the room, too busy undoing the front of Percy’s trousers to worry about where they’ve gone. She’s so eager, in fact, that there’s a loud popping sound as two of the buttons on his trousers snap under her fingers.

There’s a long moment where they just stare at each other, wide-eyed and silent. Vex can’t tell which of them breaks first, but they do, she tossing her head back and cackling, he burying his face in her neck, shoulders shaking with the force of his mirth. “Oh, gods,” Percy says, voice trembling as he laughs. “You know we have to go back to the party at some point, right?”

Vex tosses the buttons aside. “I’ll fix it, we’ll fix it, it’s fine, don’t worry about it,” she says, and any counter Percy might make to her (admittedly weak) argument is silenced on a moan as she reaches down and wraps a hand around his cock.

He’s so hard, blood-flushed and leaking at the tip, and she catches a droplet of liquid with her finger, bringing it to her lips. “All for me?” she asks with a coy smile.

Percy kisses her, hard. “Always,” he says, and then he’s reaching between them to press the head of his cock against her and then he’s inside her in a single smooth thrust.

Vex groans. She loves pretty much everything about having sex with Percival at this point. They’ve been doing it for over a year, and they’ve gotten pretty good at it, if she may say so herself, once they figured out likes and dislikes and that thing Vex does with her fingers when she’s going down on him that makes him come like he’s been kicked in the head. There’s something about this, though, this first moment of fullness, of _closeness_ , that still makes her catch her breath, no matter how many times they’ve done it.

She presses her forehead to Percy’s and breathes him in for a moment. “Love you,” she says.

He kisses her. “Love you, too.”

Then he pulls his hips back and drives into her, hard, and she loses herself in the slick slide of his cock inside her, the jolt of his hips when they slam into hers, the blunt pressure of his teeth against her pulse. The desk shakes underneath her at the force of it, and she moans, tipsy and too loud.

“Shhh!” Percy fumbles, one hand coming up to press over her mouth. “Someone will hear!”

Vex nips at his palm and he pulls away. “Let them,” she says, gasping as he pulls back and thrusts in again. “Let them catch us.”

She says it almost as a joke, certainly not expecting Percy to take it seriously, but he jerks inside her and buries his face in her neck and cries out like she’s struck him.

 _Oh_ , thinks Vex. _Okay_.

“Do you want them to catch us, Percival?” She says it right into his ear, pulling him to her with arms and legs. He groans and she grins. “You do, don’t you? You want someone to find us.”

“I-” Percy stammers. She can feel his arms shaking from the effort of bracing himself on the desk, and his hips falter in their harsh rhythm against her. She pulls away from his ear and catches his eye, cradling his head in her hands until he looks at her. She recognizes the expression on his face, the half hope half pleading when he _wants_ something so much even his beautiful brain can’t find the words for it.

“Oh, Percy,” she says, running her fingers through his hair and feeling him shake under her touch. “It’s alright, darling. It’s alright.” She kisses his temple, his cheek, his eyelids, nose, lips. “Do you want me to stop talking?”

He takes a deep breath, shakes his head ever so slightly.

“Percy, love, I need you to say it.”

He swallows. “Don’t- don’t stop.” He looks down at her. “Please.”

She smiles. “Alright.” She kisses him, quite thoroughly, and lets him pick up his rhythm again before she speaks. “What would they do, do you think? All those noble mighty people, if they knew their Lord’s wife was fucking him not three hallways away from them right now.”

Percy groans. He drops his head to her shoulder and braces himself, fucking into her hard enough to shake the desk beneath them.

She nips at his earlobe. “You want them to see us, don’t you darling? You want them to see how much I love you, how much I love your mouth and your fingers and your cock-”

“ _Vex_.” He’s shaking now, shuddering in every limb, not even kissing her, just breathing hard against her neck. He’s put nearly his full weight on the desk and he looms over her, arms on either side, chest pressing her down. She retaliates by wrapping her arms and legs around him, drawing him as far into herself as she can, and he cries out at the clench of her tight heat.

“Let them hear, Percival,” she says, feeling him try to stifle his noises against her skin. “Let them hear how good I make you feel, I want to make you feel good-” She drags her nails through his hair and yanks his head back. “Percy, love, let me hear you, let everyone hear-”

He surges forward to kiss her as his hips snap forward, and they both cry out at the feel of him spending himself inside her. She rocks against him a moment longer, drawing out his pleasure for as long as she can, until he shivers and moves back, and she whimpers despite herself at the empty feeling as he pulls out.

“Sorry.” Vex gathers herself enough to look up at Percy, who’s gone a rather fetching shade of pink. “I didn’t realize I would… enjoy that, as much as I did. I didn’t mean to- So quickly, before you-”

“Percy.” Vex reaches up to cradle his face and he quiets immediately, leaning into her touch. “It’s alright, darling.” She kisses him, gently, almost chaste if not for the fact that she can feel him dripping from her. “That was lovely.”

He sighs, letting whatever tension remained drain out of him. “I want to make you feel good.”

“You do!” Percy still looks worried, though, and Vex lets a sly smirk spread on her face as an idea comes her. “If you wanted to make me feel even better, though…” She puts her hands on his shoulders and pushes him back slightly, enough that she can scoot back on the desk and spread her legs. “You could always clean up the mess you made.”

Percy’s eyes flick down between her legs and back to her face. He raises an eyebrow. She raises one back.

“As my lady wishes,” he says with his own smirk, and he sinks to his knees and ducks down to lick straight into her cunt.

Vex gasps. The sounds Percy makes as he licks and sucks at her are obscene, his lips and tongue and her slickness and his spend. He wastes no time, licking broad stripes over her lips and sucking hard at her clit. She has to fight to keep her knees from clamping down around his ears and suffocating him. Not that she thinks he’d mind.

“Fuck, Percy-” She’s breathing as hard as if she’s mid-battle, clinging to his head for dear life. She’d worry about hurting him with how tight she’s pulling his hair in her fingers, but she can feel him groan appreciatively with every tug. “Percy, oh- love, please, I need-”

She’s barely spoken before Percy slips two fingers inside her and she groans at the pleasant stretch of it. “ _Yes_ , Percy, there, oh, fuck-” He lifts one of her legs onto his shoulder with his free arm, and the new angle lets him brush against the rough patch inside her that sends pleasure sparking through her body. She cries out, her spine arcing, and Percy arcs with her, his fingers pumping and his lips moving even as she tips over the edge.

Vex nearly blacks out with the force of her orgasm. When the waves of pleasure finally calm, she’s lying flat on her back on the desk, with her legs dangling over the edge. “Holy shit,” she says.

Percy laughs. “Quite.” He sits on the desk next to her, hair a wreck and chin soaked. He goes to wipe his fingers on his trousers, but she doesn’t let him. She sits up enough to catch his hand and bring his fingers to her lips. His eyes blow wide as she licks their combined slickness from his fingers, and she feels fairly certain if he hadn’t essentially come his brains out a few moments before he’d be about ready for another round just from that.

“My exhibitionist husband.” Percy flushes neck to ears at that, and she laughs. “Honestly, darling, I wish you’d said something earlier. We could’ve been having this kind of fun for ages.”

“I didn’t _know_ ,” Percy says, plaintive as can be. “Really, I’ve as surprised as you are.”

She has to kiss him then. “Best wedding present ever.”

They kiss for a bit, longer than they should, though not as long as they want to. It takes more time to get themselves tucked away and reassembled, and a bit of clever work on Vex’s part to keep Percy’s trousers up missing two buttons. They make it back to the party in time for the next round of dancing, and while Vex is certain many people notice their frazzled hair and messed up clothes, everyone has the decency to stay quiet about it. It makes Vex warm inside, the knowing of what they did, of what they are to each other, and the knowing that no one else in the room knows the half of it.

They’ll tell everyone about the marriage eventually. They will. But for this one night, Vex is content to twine her fingers with her husband’s, and smile, and keep their secret to herself.

**Author's Note:**

> i write porn when my life blows up, it's a habit at this point


End file.
